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Biochemistry JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Quantitative Visualization and Detection of Skin Cancer Using Dynamic Thermal Imaging

DOI: 10.3791/2679-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Apply dynamic thermal imaging to differentiate melanoma from benign nevi
  • ✓ Measure transient thermal response of skin lesions to cooling stimuli
  • ✓ Interpret quantitative heat signatures for early-stage cancer detection
  • ✓ Process thermal images to extract metabolic activity biomarkers
Protocol

We demonstrated that malignant pigmented lesions with increased metabolic activity generate quantifiable amounts of heat and the measurement of the transient thermal response of the skin to a cooling excitation allows quantitative identification of melanoma and other skin cancers (vs. non-proliferative nevi) at an early stage of the disease.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~15–30 min per lesion (acquisition + processing)

Steps

1
Set up dynamic thermal imaging apparatus

Assemble the experimental setup including cooling excitation source and thermal camera calibration. Ensure equipment is positioned to capture transient thermal responses of skin lesions.

▶ 01:46
2
Acquire thermal images of skin lesions

Apply cooling stimulus to the lesion area and capture sequential thermal images over time to record the transient thermal response. Document baseline and post-cooling thermal signatures.

▶ 02:12
3
Process thermal image data

Apply image processing algorithms to quantify heat generation and thermal response kinetics. Extract numerical biomarkers that differentiate malignant from benign lesions.

▶ 03:13
4
Analyze transient thermal responses

Compare thermal response profiles between melanoma and non-proliferative nevi. Correlate quantified heat signatures with metabolic activity to classify lesion malignancy.

▶ 04:41
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